Posts by Madeleine Muzdakis

Madeleine Muzdakis

Madeleine Muzdakis is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met and a historian of early modern Britain & the Atlantic world. She holds a BA in History and Mathematics from Brown University and an MA in European & Russian Studies from Yale University. Madeleine has worked in archives and museums for years with a particular focus on photography and arts education. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys hiking, film photography, and studying law while cuddling with her cat Georgia.

June 5, 2023

Scientists Capture World’s Very First X-Ray of a Single Atom

For the average person, X-ray specs might still be the stuff of superhero novels; but for scientists who regularly work with X-rays, the technology just took a huge leap forward. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with higher energy “content” than our visible light. They pass through objects which, depending on the material, absorb different amounts of radiation. This produces data often presented as images, for example, of broken bones.

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June 4, 2023

16 Beautiful Wind Chimes To Fill Your Garden With Music This Summer

After a breeze, you can sometimes hear the soothing sound of a wind chime. Although popular today, this instrument has been around for thousands of years. In China, Japan, and India, wind bells attached to temples drove away evil spirits and brought good luck. The ancient Romans hung protective (often erotically themed) bronze tintinnabulum in their gardens. Now, wind chimes are used around the world for many reasons.

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May 31, 2023

Girl Born in Jail Defies Expectations and Gets Accepted to Harvard University

Congratulations are in order for one exceptional young woman. Eighteen-year-old Aurora Sky Castner just graduated third in her class from Conroe High School in Texas, an admirable feat on its own; but, it’s all the more impressive given how much the teen has triumphed over in her young life. She was born to an incarcerated mother and raised by a single father.

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May 29, 2023

Listen to the World’s Oldest Sheet Music, a Mesopotamian Hymn Over 3,000 Years Old

Music may be as old as mankind, but the songs of the ancient past are largely lost to history. Among those to create and play music were the ancient residents of Mesopotamia. Within this cradle of civilization, history, laws, and religious texts were recorded in cuneiform on tablets. Many have survived, including an exceptional tablet: the earliest extant sheet music in the world. Known as “Hurrian Hymn No.

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